Page 3889 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 30 November 2021

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Planning and Land Management and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (4.39): I thank Ms Clay for the motion today. I will speak to Mr Cain’s amendment in just a moment, but I want to thank Ms Clay. This brings up an important discussion, I think, on how we can provide better outcomes for Canberrans into the future. Thankfully, we have had a little bit of rain, so some of these areas now are coming up quite green, and there is a project that TCCS is looking into to ensuring their wellbeing in the future as well.

I was quite disappointed that Mr Cain’s amendment was last-minute, without any consultation with either the mover or government on this. It changes the context, somewhat, of the motion.

Mr Cain: It was a friendly amendment.

MR GENTLEMAN: Mr Cain interjects again, Mr Deputy Speaker. He interjected four times through the last minister’s speech. His speech was, of course, left un-interjected upon. He was quite free to have his speech, so I think it is respectful to listen to other points of view in the chamber and not interject while conversations are occurring.

There is nothing extreme about Mr Cain’s amendment. It seems reasonable for us to look into the future, but we need to ensure consultation before these sorts of decisions are made, so Ms Orr has written an amendment to Mr Cain’s amendment, which is being circulated at the moment. That will call for consultation with the Canberra community before such a decision would occur. I think that is quite reasonable and fits in with Mr Cain’s amendment. It also fits in with Ms Clay’s original motion. So as that is being distributed now, I will leave it there and let the chamber decide which way to go.

MS ORR (Yerrabi) (4.41): I rise very briefly, with a very small amendment, and it is certainly in keeping with the spirit of Mr Cain’s amendment—to see these ovals maintained for community use and community recreation use, but making sure that it is done in consultation with the community and that we are not inadvertently excluding something that could be put on them—particularly given my past life as a planner and the interpretation of the word “development” and what that could involve. I just want to make sure that we are not ruling anything out that the community may want to see, but certainly keeping these wonderful community assets as just that—community assets.

I move:

After “development”, insert “subject to consultation with the community;” circulated in my name.

MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra—Assistant Minister for Economic Development, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Business and Better Regulation, Minister for Human Rights and Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (4.41): I rise briefly to put on the record my thanks to Ms Clay for bringing this motion forward. I think that all members of Ginninderra in this place have been very strongly engaged with the


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